


obliviate (wolfstar)

by endlesspossibilites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Amnesia, Bisexual Remus Lupin, Gay Sirius Black, M/M, POV Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, idk man, obliviate, sirius black - Freeform, sirius remus, uhhh, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlesspossibilites/pseuds/endlesspossibilites
Summary: remus lupin is a secondary school english teacher....until a man on a motorbike arrives in his classroom to proclaim that everything he's known is a lie, and he's actually a wizard who lost his memory in an unfortunate charm accident.aka sirius, james and remus stay at hogwarts whilst remus remembers them, the wizarding world, and so, so much more about himself. and yes, it's wolfstar.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 71





	1. I

Remus had had a shitty day, not even speaking of the weather. 

It was wet and stormy, yes, but the traffic had been simply _dire,_ which had meant that a cover teacher had had to take his first class and his form, which meant the class of twelve year olds wouldn’t have gotten anything done because it was likely Mrs Jones, and she never had any control of the class. 

So it was understandable that he was in a sour mood until his fourth class of the lesson, when, right before lunch, something out of the ordinary happened. 

“This sentence,” Remus gestured to the interactive whiteboard, which was playing up, “is a complex sentence. We’re trying, here, to vary the sentence starters so it begins with the preposition ‘under’.” 

However he is interrupted from his fascinating spiel by the bell, and the students began to pack their bags until it repeated itself, then again, the loud tolls playing on Remus’ head like he has a hangover, which he does not, but almost wishes he had. 

“It’s the lockdown bell,” Katie chimes in, a bitchy popular kid that Remus would like to wring the neck of every time she judges him with her eyes. 

“Guys,” Remus’ eyes dart to his class, “Remove your bags and go under those tables at the back.” 

Lockdown - this was a procedure they hadn't practised, well, ever. He was new at the school by two months, and he had no idea, no clue, of how he was supposed to tackle this. Maybe it was a practice he hadn't been emailed about? Unlikely. 

“What’s going to happen?” He hears some of the girls whisper as he locks the door and pulls down the curtains. He truly, truly doesn't know. Even the boys are eyeing each other in wonder, all sense of bravado falling swiftly off them as the minutes tick by without them knowing anything. 

And then, a set of footsteps. Presumably male, but could just be thick boots. Keys, or some loose change, or other metallic objects rustle in their pocket. They stops right outside Remus’ door. 

“Mr Lupin,” He - it’s a he, with a gruff but somewhat playful voice - addresses him, and Remus’ jaw falls slack, “This is painfully obvious from my standing. Your timetable is plastered on your door, and the lights were still on six minutes ago. I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me in.” 

Whoever the male was, he pushed on the door with a hand, then again. It held. The man sighed deeply. 

“Remus, either I come in or you come out.” It’s a warning. 

“How the,” Remus restrains himself from saying fuck, although the kids would probably grin with glee, “hell do you know my name?” 

“Coming in? Or you coming out?” Remus makes a split decision - he dies, not the kids, obviously. Protecting the kids is the number 1 priority, and he quickly sits down at his computer, hoping his typing skills remain as quick as they once were as he begins to compose an email that hopefully will be delivered and read, soon. 

“Mo-Remus, I need an answer, preferably soon.” Remus’ eyes dash over the email, seeing _Sent_ and then he takes a deep breath and nods at one of the kids before opening the door and exiting through it. 

The man has dark, dishevelled hair. It’s long, and black, and Remus swallows, silently deciding he’s beautiful - but dangerous. The man has an air of familiarity and childlike life inside of him, maybe through his eyes which seem to thoroughly convey fire. He chuckles as Remus checks out his motorbike helmet, and biker attire. 

“You’re a teacher,” He raises an eyebrow at Remus. “Yeah, I see that.” 

“Who the hell are you? Why are you here?” 

“To see you, of course. To protect you, really, and the students.” 

“What from?” Remus finds himself asking, curiosity taking over. He’s never met this man in his life, how is he supposed to protect him and a class of kids?

“Yourself,” The bloke’s eyes convey some sort of sadness that Remus can’t even bring himself to understand. “You care immensely for your students, if you are willing to face a maniacal stranger for them.” 

“It’s my job,” Remus says, then adds, “You haven't killed me yet.”

He snorts, and then within seconds there are more people in the tight corridor and he’s in handcuffs, the police restraining him. Remus raises an eyebrow. His email to the Head, Mr Bates, requesting assistance, had obviously been quickly understood then. 

The atmosphere changes as they roughly ask him, “Name?” 

He looks puzzles. “Elvendork is a good one. Why, trying to rename one of your kids?”

“He means your own,” Remus adds helpfully. 

“Sirius. Sirius Black, although it’s a rubbish family surname. The Noble House of Black,” The man - Sirius imitates the last as though it’s something he’d rather not be a part of. 

“As in…serious?” One of the policemen seems to falter at the name. It is pretty odd, so Remus can sympathise with him. But somehow, it suits him.And besides - Remus is no stranger to weird names, his name etymologically speaking meaning quite literally “wolf wolf”. 

As they pat Sirius down, a lady asks whether he himself is okay. “Yeah, he didn't hurt me, didn't really say much either. Said he was here to protect me and the kids.” 

The policewoman asks the same thing he did, and Remus replies, “Myself,” which seems to mystify her as much as it did him. 

“Ah,” Sirius draws the attention back to him, as the man arresting him pulls out what looks like a very fashionable stick from the inside of his biker jacket, “That. Prongs said you wouldn't like that. You are the police right?” He looks stupefied for a second. Remus lets out a breathy laugh, almost face palming - is he just really stupid? Foreign? High? Maybe all three?

“Who is Prongs?” Nice Policewoman asks, to which Sirius explains that he is a friend of his who is far wiser than him, but just as likely to get into trouble like this.

“Why are you here?” Is the following question. 

“To talk to Remus,” Sirius winks at him, saying nothing else.

“What about? He doesn't know you.” Remus corroborates this with a nod. 

“Oh, just bits and pieces. But I can see that now might not be the best of times.” Sirius is dragged off by the guy who put him in handcuffs and the nice police lady stays.

“If he contacts you in the future, you need to call us immediately. We may be in contact with you later.” She gives him her phone number, and then runs off to the police car to follow her partner. 

Mr Bates comes over later, ever the gossip, asking after what happened. Remus gives a quick summary and is glad when he’s given the rest of the day off, because he needs a really large glass of whiskey and an early night after that whole ordeal. 


	2. II

It’s 7pm that evening when the next bizarre thing happens. 

There are two raps on the door, odd because in the two months that Remus has lived here, he has barely had any visitors. He has no friends and no family, no one who really knows about him relocating for the new job. 

“I know, I know, I’m not Sirius, but I’m here until he manages to escape himself from the situation he’s wrangled himself into. I did tell him not to do it so dramatically, but hey, that’s just Sirius for you.” It’s a different man, with striking eyes and scruffy hair. He swiftly takes a step into the flat and nods, heading for the sofa. Remus doesn't even squawk in protest, he’s that surprised.

He only bucks up the courage to ask who he is when Scruffy Hair downs the rest of his whiskey, then winces and complains that it, “Isn’t up to par in comparison with Hog’s Head Firewhiskey, but it does the job”.

“Who are you?” He’s mentioned Sirius, but this guy isn't a biker. What is this - is Remus now being introduced into some kind of cult? 

“Prongs,” He announces, flicking his eyes back to his host and then down to his watch, frowning. “Padfoot is late.” 

Who’s Padfoot?! 

“What is your actual name?” Remus says, frustratedly. Sirius had mentioned Prongs earlier, so this must be his famous slightly wiser friend. Instantly, he can see why they are friends. It’s definitely a cult thing, though, the code names. 

“James.” He immediately gets up to go to the toilet and that’s when it becomes suspicious. 

The layout of Remus’ house goes like this - it is almost inconvenient to live in if you live with a partner. Ridiculous, unruly and out of order, but it remains Remus’ home. What he means by this, is that the toilet is in the basement, and no one who’s ever come over has known where to go.   
But James swings into the toilet with no problem at all, and Remus is ready to pounce on him. “How do you know where the toilet was?” 

“I am very intelligent,” James’ eyes are shifty. James is quite literally saved by the bell, as someone who is presumably Sirius rings. 

But Remus does not need to open the door, as Sirius makes his own entrance. “HELLO AND WELCOME TO PADFOOT’S GREAT ARRIVAL, STARRING PADFOOT HIMSELF AND LILY POTTER.” 

Remus just sighs and decides not to question how Sirius got into the house. It has solved the mystery of who Padfoot is, although there is certainly more questions he has to ask. Padfoot, Prongs - why the secret code names? Who is Lily Potter? 

It turns out, after Sirius has made his dramatic entrance, that Lily is a red headed beauty, who seems bemused by Sirius’ exploits but happy to see him, even if he has literally never met her. Remus feels slightly uncomfortable being in a room of people of such beauty, especially when considering the rather inconvenient scar spanning the length of his face, the reason he teaches secondary school and not primary.  
“Remus! I haven’t seen you in literally forever. How’s Lyall, any better? Are you keeping safe?” Remus is now the one who is completely befuddled, bewildered and just all round confused. What the fuck? Who is Lyall? 

“Sirius, why did you bring my wife?” That solves that question, but it creates even more as well. Do cult leaders have wives? Is she a cult leader herself?

“It’s a long story, involving duck tape, an onion and a lasagna. This sofa…” Sirius concludes, flopping down on it. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - it’s the best.” 

And then Lily goes on the prowl. James is sat, fiddling with his fingernails, obviously hiding something. 

“Remus - that book you mentioned last time we met up, do you have it here. The…erm, Mockingbird one?” 

“To Kill a Mockingbird?” Remus manages, trying to avoid that Sirius has been on his sofa before. He loves Jem, not Scout or Atticus so much but hey, he’ll lend his copy to Lily if he has to. It’s not worth anything special - not much in his house is. And he’s not obsessively considerate when he comes to reading books, with all the dog ears. Most bookworms would actually be appalled when they saw the state of his books, but he just really wasn’t interested in purchasing 3000 bookmarks to then lose all of them. 

“Yeah, and do you have that fairytale magic book that you lot have read that I haven’t? I don’t want to be a pain but James somehow managed to light his copy on fire when he was 6, so that’s demolished.” Lily glances at her husband.   
“I…uhm, you’d have to be a bit more specific than that,” He chuckles, still wondering what exactly he’s doing here. No - not what he’s doing here, more what they are doing here, in his house. “I really, really don’t know why you’re asking though. You don’t know me.”

“Remus, did James and Sirius somehow…drug you?” It’s a tentative request, but Remus honestly doesn't know the answer. 

“Quite possibly. I really do not know who you are.” He had wondered why they all seemed to know him - Sirius upon arriving at the school, James just launching in and immediately finding the toilet, Lily asking him for book recommendations. Oh god - had the cult somehow installed cameras in his house? Had they been watching him, stalking him?

“This may sound…silly,” Remus hesitates before continuing, “Are we-you guys in a cult?”

“I really really think we should explain now,” Sirius gulped, as Lily was looking at him, downright murderous. James’ obsession with his fingernails was getting more and more rapid with the cult announcement, it was bordering annoying. 

“You’re a wizard, Remus,” James informs him, and he suddenly decides that he needs more whiskey. 


	3. III

“You are all clearly nut-jobs. Out of my house,” Remus gestures with shooing hands, but Sirius quite pointedly is remaining lying on the couch like he’s in therapy. Whatever cult this is, he doesn't want to be a part of it. 

“James Potter,” Lily’s voice is heating up, and he cowers. “Why the hell are you telling Remus Lupin he is a wizard at the wise age of 22, when he’s graduated from Hogwarts very well qualified?” 

“I obliviated him,” Sirius said, eyes darting from Remus to James, who nodded, to Lily. “Wiped his memory. Accidental, of course, and it was wordless. I didn’t mean to wipe his memory of magic, but I was slightly in shock.There was this thing with Marlene…” 

“Were you shagging Marlene and he walked in?” James looked gleeful. Obviously he hadn't been privy to this information previously, just the obliviate part. Remus is, well, still confused. 

“That…what…oh my god,” Lily sighs deeply and then, simply, disappears. Remus nearly falls over. 

“Oh shit she’s really angry,” James raises an eyebrow. “She never apparates without saying goodbye unless we’re going together.”  
“Sorry,” Remus is still trying to catch up on everything that’s happened since Sirius had last spoken, “Did you say you’d wiped my memory?” He’d decided to stop getting them to leave - in fact, he’s angry. Very angry. This is his life, and Sirius appears to have somehow dabbled in it.

Surely, surely he can’t be serious. Surely he can’t have wiped his memory, not even magic can do that, it’s just beyond the capabilities of a human…

“I deeply apologise. I didn't even think about my actions,” That seems to be a reoccurrence then, “And by the time I realised what I’d done you had disappeared into the unknown world and we couldn't track you down for two months.” 

“When you got a car,” James informed him, “That threw us off. We thought you’d moved to Majorca or something and sold the house. Hence, two months.” 

It was rather beaten up, his car, - new, yes, but second hand, therefore less functioning than it would have been. But it was cheap, and Remus had no plans to tackle the motorway any time soon, so it sufficed. 

“Okay…I can’t quite believe you, so how can you prove that I’ve lost my memories?” 

“Where did you go to school for secondary?” James asks, and Remus opens his mouth to answer but finds himself completely stumped. How can he not know that…it must have been on his CV when he applied for the teacher job? How is that possible?

“What are your parents names? Name us some of your friends.” Sirius continues, and again, the answer can’t come to him. He doesn't know his parents names?!

“You went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, your parents are called Lyall and Hope Lupin, although sadly Hope is no longer with us, and your friends…well,” Sirius smiles lazily. Remus has a bad feeling about where this is going to go.“Your friends are us,” James waves his hands down at his body as though exposing it as a fine specimen, and Remus gulps. Their crooked smiles tell everything he needs to know, and he suddenly feels like he’s got himself into somewhat of a bad situation here, even if it is Sirius’ fault. 

“And the wizardry? How can you explain that?” Sirius pulls out his stick from earlier, which is engraved with flashy designs and swirls. He drops a vase Remus has never particularly cared about onto the floor, and then waves his wand and fixes it. Within a second it looks as good as new, without the chip it originally had in it. Magic — literally. 

“We need to get you sorted,” James taps his head at Sirius. “When did you say Dumbledore could meet us?” 

“Tomorrow morning - 10 am, his office at Hogwarts. I’m sure he’ll be able to reverse it,” Sirius jumps up, as does James. 

“I’ll pick you up in the morning.” Remus is about to protest that it’s a school day and he’ll have to work, but his answer is supplied. “James resigned for you, unfortunately you’ll never see Mr Bates or his weirdo colleagues ever again.” 

And that is that. They stride out of Remus’ house and there’s nothing more to it. He’s got a time, a place, and a ride from Sirius, and a resignation he never agreed to. To see yet another mysterious stranger who will apparently fix a problem he wasn’t aware he had. 


	4. IV

In Remus’ dream he was a wolf. An odd dream, granted. Sirius had been there, and James, but he was chasing after them in his wolf form, snarling. They kept saying his name, panting it, fleeing for their lives. He didn’t understand why they were running, until he realised. He was a werewolf, and he was chasing them, to kill them.

He killed them, or at least, he was about to, when he shot up to of bed and started to feel the whiskey rise up as bile. Remus rubbed his eyes and attempted to keep the liquor inside of him, ignoring the dream. James and Sirius would have said something - if he was somehow a werewolf, right? That was sort of crucial information. No - he was simply a wizard.   
Sirius was round at his by 8:30, knocking on the door wearing his getup, the clouds dark and chilly. He waved excitedly and handed Remus the spare leather jacket in his other hand. Remus took it cautiously, an eyebrow raised in discomfort. 

“What? We can’t floo there, or apparate, cause you’ll just throw up, so I thought we’d go muggle.” None of those words make any sense but he continues, regardless.

“And that requires the leather jacket?” Remus locks his door, having acquired all he needs. He’s presuming Sirius will sort out food, or they’ll stop off. Where is their destination, anyways? Other than Dumbledore’s office…

“I don’t have a car in my possession,” Sirius nods to his decrepit car, which Remus glances at, “That shitty car would not fare well on the motorway.” it’s a fair point, but the insult seems unnecessary anyways.   
And so Sirius shows him the motorbike they will be taking, which is conveniently lacking a side car. He seems beaming with pride as he watches Remus don the leather jacket and Sirius pats his pockets, searching, before flourishing out a wand similar to the one he had on him yesterday. Thrusting it at him, he says, “It’s yours.”

It slides into his hand perfectly, and weighs heavier than he thought, but soon gets used to it. Unfortunately the memories don’t flood back to him just like that, so it remains, for all sense and purposes, just a stick of wood to him. “Thanks,” he murmurs, and then slides it into his own jacket pocket, where it fits snugly. Somehow he feel more comfortable with it on him, and promptly sits on the motorbike with his hands on Sirius’ shoulders. 

He’s never been on a motorbike before, so when Sirius instructs him to place his arms around Sirius’ chest, Remus has to adjust before it gets comfortable, but eventually they seem to fit perfectly. Sirius must have done this with a lot of people before, if he’s so good at adjusting.

Two hours later they are stuck in traffic behind a Porsche that is equally as stuck as they are, and it’s getting incredibly hot under the helmets. As they’ve come to a standstill Sirius is balancing them and Remus has removed his arms in order to stretch them. He just knows that his hair is going to be a remarkable mess after this, and that’s not exactly the perfect situation to meet the person who’s supposed to fix him up. 

“Merlin a bloody tortoise could walk faster than this,” Sirius grumbles under the helmet and swerves through some more cars that are at a standstill to pull over. Remus squawks with discomfort at the sudden set off and grips onto Sirius rather tightly. “THIS IS GOING TO BE BUMPY!” Sirius shouts as he takes off into the forest, heading over rocks. 

He checks back to see that Remus is okay, still gripping onto him, and Remus screams at him to look at the path as they nearly hit a ditch. 

Just as he’s starting to think that Sirius has rebranded his motorbike as a mountain bike, they pull into a prairie and take off into the sky with a final puff, and Sirius whoops. His grin widens at the same amount as Remus’ eyes and soon they’re flying over London. It’s a complicated descent, but no one seems to see them as they fly in and land on the roof of a pub which Sirius informs him is called the Leaky Cauldron. 

Sirius places the motorbike reverently in a locker of some sort, when another wizard arrives on a broomstick, waves at them and walks down the stairs into the pub. They follow him and go up to greet the bartender, who asks Sirius promptly if he wants a fire whiskey and asks whether they have James and Lily with them as well. 

“Not today, Eddie,” Sirius replies, glancing to him. “Just some business with Moony.” 

“Important business,” Eddie leans in, a secret inquiry that Remus can’t decode. 

“It’s not for the Order,” Sirius whispers, and Remus feels like it’s best to nod alongside him, so he does. 

“Well, chaps, good luck. Can’t you just apparate or take the floo?” Eddie gestures to the fireplace, which is empty of any flames. 

“Wanted to take the bike out for a spin,” Sirius explains, “We will do from here. Also nice to pop by and see you.” 

“Oh, and Sirius. Bilton Bilmes wants to see you.” Sirius nods at this, and they promptly go through a brick wall that opens up with some taps of the wand. Remus has decided that after the flying motorbike and the repairing vase, there aren’t many things that can surprise him.   
“What’s the Order?” Remus inquires quietly when they’re on the street. It’s a magical place - completely unlike London although Remus consciously knows they can’t have left it. The shops are filled with flashing signs and many odd animals fly overhead. Owls hoot frequently, seemingly carrying envelopes.  
Sirius’ voice is low but desperate. “Not here. Later. We have a lot to cover.” But he stops outside of a shop named Zonkos, which seems to be filled with all sorts of objects. “This is the joke shop of the town. I’m about to approach the owner, we’ve been in business with him for the last year with our new brand of pranks. We make and design them, and then he sells for us. It has, thus far, made us quite a lot of money.”

“You have a business?” Remus is surprised, to say the least. Sirius and James…they just don’t seem responsible enough to handle all the money issues of that, and health and safety of products, or values. 

“You do all the accounts though. We’ve been swamped for the last few months because we didn't have you. James has actually had to relearn counting, it got that bad. Just…play pretend, but make it believable. I don’t really want to explain, well, the whole obliviate situation.”

“Sirius! Welcome, again!” The owner, Bilton Blimes, has a booming voice. “And Remus, gosh, haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”   
“Well, swamped with business, of course, but functioning well enough, I suppose. Gotta deal with these idiots trying to kill me with their various devices, so you never know!” Sirius nods. Ah, so that was satisfactory. He is slightly miffed with the fact they’ve lied to Eddie, and now this guy as well. But hopefully he’ll soon be fixed, and then back to a normality he doesn't know.

“Your stuff is selling well!” Bilton winks and follows up, “Especially with the kids.” 

Sirius tells Bilton how they are just finalising a product they’ve been working on for a few weeks, and how they will ship some to him soon enough. And soon they’re running back to the Leaky Cauldron, and Sirius is attempting to explain the Floo system to him. 

There’s no way he’s getting in a fire place and throwing powder all over himself - that’s just stupid. He doesn't even have any experience in this. They wait patiently to see a witch do it skilfully and Remus nearly passes out as it lights up with flame and she just…disappears. 

“Fuck no,” He’s horrified. 

Sirius dallies, obviously plotting. “Motorbike will be too long…uhm, no apparating or flooing then, so…I guess that leaves…” He seems stumped, before he realises. “Aha! The train!” 

Sirius explains that the train is taking the students back from their Christmas break, and that they might as well hop on that. Because, of course, this ‘Dumbledore’ happens to be the headteacher of the Wizard school he supposedly went to. Hogwarts. 

It’s not a straightforward route, but Sirius adds that he isn’t, in fact, a very straight forward person. So they’re going on the train. 


	5. V

Eddie smiles like a lunatic when they announce their plans and nods them off, and soon they’re taking off to go to King’s Cross in time. Students mingle around with suitcases, and as Sirius guides him through a brick wall, hand in hand, Remus has a sudden realisation.

No matter how completely mad this is, how utterly insane Sirius seems, he’s actually having fun. He’s having a genuinely good time. Being around Sirius made him feel better, happy, alive, as though he was just going through life with no purpose. He felt like he was…one of the group. 

“That was….this is amazing.” Remus chuckles on the other side, and lights up at the size of the train and the bustle of students and just the vibe. It’s wonderful. 

“I’ve always wanted to do that for the first time again. I had to be far more dignified with my parents. Nasty blighters, they are.” 

Remus wants to inquire more about his parents, but Sirius pulls him into an empty carriage, seeming gleeful that he’s acquired this one. “It’s our carriage - where we all met. James would buy us sweets cause he always has an allowance, but neither of us really had enough of an allowance to spend on sweets. Our other mate, Peter, would normally buy you a thing of chocolate. James’ mum eventually started giving us our own allowances, just for the sweets on this ride. We’d laugh and joke. School was the best.” 

“Sounds amazing” Remus can’t remember any of it, of course, but it’s nice that Sirius can explain it in such depth. 

“Yeah…I moved in with James, after 6th year. My parents…” Sirius shakes his head, “well, let’s just say it got pretty bad.” 

“Your family, they seem like nasty pieces of work,” Remus comments. From what limited things he’s said about them. 

“Involved with dark magic. Tried to get me into it from a young age but that didn't really work out for them, so they chose my brother to be the perfect sibling, the golden one.” He’s staring out of the window, at the happy families waving off their children.

He seems scarred by it, however bubbly and bouncy he seems. Proof that even the happiest of people can have faced terrible things in their lifetime. So much so that he had to move in with his best mate…god. It must have been a torrent of emotional abuse - he’s just glad that James’ parents were accepting of their son welcoming a new boy into their house. If he hadn’t had anywhere else to stay - well, it could have ruined Sirius. 

“Why James and not me?” Remus asks quietly. Sirius hesitates. It’s the first time he’s seen him hesitate. 

“I met your father one time. He…well, we didn’t exactly get along. There’s only so much of me people can take, and apparently one afternoon was too much. He said some things to me that hit hard, especially whilst I was still living with my parents. Some personal things.” He seems to be struggling with the idea of actually telling Remus what had been used against him, and instead remains silent. 

“I apologise.” 

“It’s not your fault. You aren’t close. You weren’t, but, it was bad for him. After your Mum died, things got rough. You also had some upsets with him, but now he’s ill. Things change.” 

“He never apologised though, did he. To me, or to you?” Remus inquires, pensive.

“No he didn’t. Remus, he-” Sirius is interrupted from the clarification by a new, sudden arrival. It’s a group of small children - a band of 4 that seem to be bounding with energy. 

“Jordan Brookfield,” the boy in front sticks out a hand that Sirius shakes. “Mr Sirius, Mr Remus. Lovely to see you. I’m the resident inquirer. Some people are…interested why there are adults on the train, other than the Trolley Lady.” 

“Would that some people be the ones standing behind you?” Remus chuckles, in his element. He likes children, even if these kids are strangers. 

“My friends,” Jordan introduces. “Jed Leeser, Alexia - Lexi, sorry - Dashner and Ben Leverman.” 

“How old are you guys?” 

“13 - I’ll be 14 in October though. 3rd year, of course. This place is brilliant, but you already know that. In fact,” Jordan frowns, eyebrows crushing in discontentment. Remus has successfully distracted the conversation from his initial aim. The wonderful work of being an adult - distraction. “Why are you here?” 

“To see Dumbledore, of course.” Sirius balances his feet on the other side of the carriage. “We need some confidential advice. He’s raising his eyes at the small scraps. 

All of the kids seem irritated that they can’t know more, clearly still inquisitive. 

“Are you guys….together?” Lexi blurts out, blushing red as though she didn’t mean for it to escape her. Sirius turned his attention to the window - the glass was so so meticulously shiny and transparent and clean, anyone would agree. Especially Remus - Remus would agree with him that the window was very interesting. 

Remus himself, however, decided to find the floor suddenly very interesting, letting Sirius take the lead on this one. Not daring to say anything he didn’t mean. 

“No. Friends,” Sirius says sharply, previous playful inflection disappearing from his voice. Remus’ heart sinks. Is Sirius…homophobic? It doesn’t bode well for Remus - did he never come out to them? That seems mad, almost, having known them for so long, but if they were homophobic it would make sense. 

Jed, quiet thus far stared at Jordan like he was the centre of his world. Looking at him in a way that suggested he wanted to be far more than close friends with Jordan. Lexi glances at Jed, then opens her mouth to apologise to Remus and Sirius, but suddenly there’s a woman with sweets in a trolley and their company dissipates. Jordan grins at Jed as he passes him what seems to be a moving frog made out of chocolate. Remus can read the silent aching Jed is feeling in his eyes, and rather hopes it isn’t reflected in his own.


	6. VI

It was incredible, truly. Like nothing he’d ever seen outside of books, like a fantasy castle out of his wildest dreams. Everything was just slightly more vibrant. The colours seemed more alive, and the children were genuinely giggling and laughing, the complete opposite of the kids he normally taught, completely miserable at having to study books like To Kill a Mockingbird and sit through assemblies even he couldn’t stay awake through. 

There was a twinge of unfairness that swung through him as he and Sirius leapt from one moving staircase to the other, Remus pausing momentarily to take a breather with his inhaler, something Sirius seemed to find fascinating and nearly broke. It seemed unfair that he didn’t get to experience this, didn’t get to live this life. And then he remembered that he had. He’d been one of those laughing kids even if he didn’t recall any of the jokes. He’d snuck around, ate, learned, slept, breathed and lived in this castle for 7 years of his life and completely forgotten about all of it. 

He wished he could remember. 

“This is the entrance,” Sirius said gruffly. He’d been a bit off since the kids had accused them of being together - keeping his distance. Remus had nearly fallen off the stairs, though, so he’d grabbed his hand just to stop him being clumsy, for which Remus was remarkably grateful. “Liquorice wands.” 

The gargoyle unfurled as expected, and another staircase revealed itself. Remus’ legs were going to kill him after the motorbiking and then this climbing. They didn’t say anything, just hearing the echo of the footsteps as they ploughed on upwards. 

A Phoenix was the first thing he noticed. Upon recommendation by one of his favourite students, he’d checked out a lot of Greek mythology, and this was definitely, without a doubt, a phoenix. A warm feeling came over him knowing that some of these things would, and almost certainly were real in this magical world.

The next thing he noticed was the man. Or more specifically, his beard, which seemed to be about down to his waist, as though he had no intention of cutting it any further.It was grey, the same as his hair, and he was also examining Remus closely. James was opposite from him, but turned quickly. 

“You guys took forever,” he ruffled his hair, making it even messier than before. 

“Well, I couldn’t exactly apparate with him, he’d pass out. You know what it does to you the first time.” 

“How did you-“” James’ face turned to one of eldritch horror, “You didn’t use the motorbike did you?”

“Only to London,” Sirius reassured him. It wouldn’t do to have flown all the way, no. Far too cold up in Northern Scotland. “And I’m sure you and Professor Dumbledore had a nice chat without us, anyways.”

“We took the train,” Remus completes, and James looks flabbergasted, as though this revelation has personally offended him. But he sits back down, willing to play nice in front of Dumbledore, who Remus is slightly intimidated by. This guy…well, he seems like a proper wizard. Something about his apparel, the long robes. 

“Albus, please, Sirius. No longer your teacher.” Dumbledore reminds him with a smile, gesturing for them to sit on the couch opposite his desk. It’s not as comfortable as the one at Remus’ house, but it fits the job because Sirius sits on it and sighs. “I hope the train was to your needs, and the students didn’t disturb.” 

“Only a bit,” Remus holds out a hand. “Nice to formally meet you, even if it is more of a reacquaintance for you.” 

“It is lovely to see all of you again, indeed. Now, Remus. I believe we have something to remedy for you.” Dumbledore doesn’t continue, instead fishing out a book from one of his shelves that lets out a cloud of dust that manages to form into the shape of a lightning bolt somehow. It was leathered and old, with yellowing pages that looked like bugs had taken a bite out of them. He began to turn the pages, pausing sometimes to ponder about the words written on it. 

“This book is a historical remedies book, one of the first. Lists many magical remedies. Normally, see, memory charms aren’t to this magnitude. It takes a lot of magical skill to cause such a loss, almost everything about a person. Normally it is just an event lost. Hence why I’m searching here, otherwise I would request you a place at St. Mungos.”

“It happens to muggles. Amnesia. They don’t have magic to cause, or cure it,” James chimes in. “One of my great aunts got struck by a bus once and lost all of her memories. When she woke up, she couldn’t even remember her name. Eventually she started calling herself Tessa and became a goat farmer in Tibet…this isn’t very relevant is it?” 

Remus had considered amnesia as something distant, something that only happened to people in soap operas because they needed a new storyline. But now it was happening to him, and it was horrible. Not knowing anything about his life, except people who were apparently his friends. 

“Hmmm…ah Mr Potter, Sirius, which one of you is better at Potions?” 

“Neither of us,” Sirius explains. “Remus was always the smart one, James and I always blew them up.” 

“I’ll have to get someone to assist,” Dumbledore mutters, “Severus is around…” But Sirius and James instantly protest. 

“Sir- you know-”  
“He hates Remus-”  
“Remus will be-”   
“Because of the thing-”  
“In Danger Professor-” They continued to interject each other like this, the Professor waiting patiently until they calmed down. 

“Snape isn’t mentally stable Professor, he has a clear grudge and daily delusions about us.” James fights. Remus has, of course, absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

“Mr Potter, Mr Black, you must understand that Severus is the best person for this - it’s a complex potion!” 

“I think James and I could take a crack at it. Honestly, we don’t have to involve him.” 

“Who is him?” Remus asked, bemused. 

Sirius looks away elusively, so James fills in. “Severus Snape is a guy from our year. We have a sort of rivalry with him because he’s said some stuff to all of us, including Lily.”

“He won’t help Remus, he won’t. Use an adult - Professor Slughorn is still around isn’t he?” Dumbledore immediately starts shaking his head. 

“Yes, but he’s a full time teacher. I won’t ask this of him. Mr Black, it really is the simplest solution.” This isn’t an argument, because Dumbledore still seems to have the upper hand here, but Sirius is making a scene.  
“I swore to protect Remus, I swore it, Professor. You know I don’t take promises lightly.” 

“I can handle a bully, Sirius. I’m not 13 anymore. If it’s the best way…if it’s to get my memories back, then…surely Snape won’t do anything to me that would cause me harm.” Remus places his hand on Sirius’ shoulder, who tenses up. 

“You don’t understand, Moony, you don’t understand.” His eyes are filled with fear, with a terror Remus can’t explain. “Some of the things that happened, he could use them. I don’t want him involved.” 

“Sirius, I’m going to have to go with Dumbledore’s recommendation at this. He’s the expert, right? We’re both mature adults - I’m sure we can get past any misunderstandings that happened in our teenage years, especially considering I don’t remember them.” 

Sirius takes a breath, looks at the floor and then storms out. Remus goes to follow but James touches his arm. “I’ll go after him. Stay, discuss with Dumbledore.”


End file.
